Thank goodness I teach 6th grade

Just when you thought it couldn't get any more difficult to be an adolescent, Mayor Bloomberg announces that he's going to make it harder to get to 8th grade. Again with the tests, as if those really measure how much someone knows and is able to do. Certainly I agree that the quality of teaching in most middle schools needs to be improved. Clearly something is not as it should be. But I think most people really miss the boat when they continue to assume that what works for 8 or 9 year-olds will also work for 12 and 13 year olds.

On the other hand, the way some of my kids respond to the weight of the test, this might actually give them the impetus to focus on their work and do their best, rather than do as little as they can to pass.

Still glad I am not teaching 7th grade, though.